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Hanzo did not remember who had insisted on having an autumn bonfire in the forest, but he found himself at it despite his insistence that there was no need for him to attend. Genji had insisted just as stubbornly that it was an excellent chance to build rapport with his teammates. Hanzo had finally agreed to go on the condition that he didn’t have to stay the entire time. He’d finally stopped scowling every time someone mentioned the fast-approaching date of the picnic after one Cole Cassidy had arrived back from a mission two weeks early and just in time to join in on the festivities.
Lena scouted for the perfect location and settled on a small clearing in the trees close to the beach. Cole offered to chop firewood, and Hanzo joined him with nothing but altruistic intent. Reinhardt carried most of the supplies in one trip, and Pharah and Angela sprung strands of lights from the tree branches. The afternoon of the picnic, they all helped spread out blankets and set up low tables at each one. Then when the sun had dipped below the horizon, Angela turned on the lights, casting the clearing in a golden glow. A light breeze rustled through the orange and yellow leaves. It was nothing short of magical. And, of course, there was more than enough alcohol to go around for those who needed a little more coaxing to enjoy the spirit of the night.
Hanzo was sitting near the edge of the clearing with Mei and Zarya. He’d enjoyed their meal together in relative silence. They usually did not ask him to speak more than he was comfortable. The night had been drifting on quietly until Zarya pulled out a large glass bottle filled with liquid that seemed to glow faintly blue. She’d immediately challenged Hanzo to outdrink her. He’d accepted.
“Mei? How many glasses is that?” asked Zarya.
“Oh, dear. I think I lost count,” replied Mei. “Sorry. Sorry.”
Hanzo’s face was flushed. His eyes were slightly unfocused, but he was holding his own. He held up the bottle. A good deal of the blue-ish liquid was missing.
“We will consider that a warm-up. Let us finish these glasses, and then the real battle will begin.”
“I will break you,” said Zarya.
Mei gasped and shook her head. Zarya laughed and patted her partner’s arm.
“It is in jest!”
“Of course,” replied Hanzo. “Let us begin.”
Zarya refilled their glasses, and they clinked them together. Just before they were about to drink, a shimmering light flashed at the center of the clearing. The light faded to reveal two Brigittes standing facing each other.
It had not been long since Echo had joined Overwatch, but her abilities were improving daily. Her copy of Brigitte was impressive. It was nearly identical.
“Now that is uncanny!” said Brigitte. She waved her fingers, and Echo mimicked her.
“My duplication of you is not entirely accurate,” replied Echo in a voice that was nearly identical to Brigitte’s. The slight synthetic tremor was the only thing that gave it away. “The longer I can observe an individual, the closer I can make the duplication. So in time, I could duplicate your personality, clothing, voice, and appearance perfectly.”
“Wow, that is truly fascinating. I would love to learn more about this technology,” said Brigitte.
“You should copy me, Echo. Show off a bit. You know near nobody could tell us apart in the past,” said Cassidy.
Hanzo was suddenly much more invested in this situation. His eyes honed in on the cowboy, and the rest of the party faded away. Cassidy was wearing a red flannel button-down and jeans that fit him better than any jeans rightly should. He had one thumb shoved lazily through a belt loop at the front of his jeans. Hanzo’s eyes flickered to the BAMF belt buckle that Cassidy still wore without a sense of shame. He blinked and glanced up from the belt. Cassidy’s mechanical hand was wrapped around a beer. Beads of precipitation clung to the glass.
“Let’s make a game of it, love! Let’s see if any of us can figure it out. Anyone who gets it wrong has to drink.” said Lena. There were resounding cheers from the rest of the group.
“Sounds good to me,” said Cassidy. “Echo, make sure you get the hat right.”
She nodded and studied him closely for a moment.
“Understood!”
“Now everyone’s gotta look away or close their eyes,” said Cassidy.
Hanzo closed his eyes if only to avoid being blinded by the light.
“All right! Eyes open!”
There were a few gasps. This duplication was astounding. There was nothing immediately obvious that would give it away. Both Cassidys turned around slowly, giving everyone a chance to find a flaw. The clearing came alive with a buzz of chatter and debate. A few minutes passed. Hanzo stopped staring at both Cassidys and settled back to nurse his drink.
“Which one do you two think it is?” asked Mei. She had her elbows propped up on her knees and was resting her head in her hands while she watched the chaos of the contest.
“Is it not obvious?” asked Hanzo, swirling his glass in one hand.
“Obvious?!” Zarya’s voice boomed out across the clearing. All eyes turned towards their table at the edge of the small clearing.
“You think it’s obvious, Zarya?” asked Lena.
“Not me! But he does!” shouted Zarya, a little louder than she needed to for Lena to hear her. She slapped a large hand across Hanzo’s back. He steadied his glass before it could spill.
“What?” Hanzo coughed, his face flushing.
“Hanzo? You think you know?” Lena’s eyebrows shot up, but then she glanced at where the two Cassidys stood. Then she glanced back at Hanzo and grinned. She blinked over to their table and put her hands on her hips. “Go on then. You give it a go if it’s so easy.”
“I have no wish to be part of this game,” said Hanzo. He lifted his glass and took another drink of the mysterious blue-ish alcohol.
“Are you saying you can’t tell them apart?”
“That is not what I said,” replied Hanzo, his eyes narrowing.
“Then prove it.”
“Let him be if he doesn’t want to!” shouted Reinhardt.
“Fine. I will prove it,” said Hanzo. He did not have the patience to argue with her. He had lost count of how many times Zarya had refilled his glass, and the forest looked fuzzier than he remembered it being when he’d gotten there a few hours before. He tipped his glass back and downed the rest of his drink. He set his glass down heavily and a little too close to the edge of the table.
He blinked and was standing in front of the two Cassidys. Hanzo frowned. He did not remember getting up or walking over, which might have been concerning if he had not been so intently focused on remaining standing. He folded his arms across his chest and glanced from one Cassidy to the next. They both stood silently -waiting. Hanzo smirked.
“The one on the right is Cassidy. It is simple.”
Lena shook her head.
“That’s not good enough. You’ve got a fifty-fifty chance of being right, so give us your evidence,”
“The part in his hair is incorrect,” said Hanzo. Laughter filled the small clearing, and Hanzo’s scowl deepened.
“That all?”
“I am not finished. Echo made his hair duller than it is. The beard is shaved too evenly to be Cassidy’s. His stance is wrong. I will not ask him to do this in the chance that it is considered cheating, but if he showed you his hand, you would see that there is a small burn on his palm from when he burned himself making breakfast this morning. The eye color is close to being accurate. However, Cassidy’s eyes are-” Hanzo stopped and cleared his throat. He looked to Lena. “Is that not enough?”
“Well, now. I think he's proved his point. He ain’t wrong,” said the Cassidy on the right.
“Impressive,” said Echo. A shimmer of shimmering gold wrapped around her.“I will use your observations to improve my duplication abilities.
Hanzo nodded curtly. Cassidy adjusted his hat, grinned, and opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, Hanzo had turned around, grabbed two beers off the picnic table, and made a beeline towards where he had been sitting with Zarya and Mei.
“Is your hand really burned?” asked Angela "Why did you not have me heal it?"
“Sure is. Aint bad though," said Cole. He was only half-listening. He showed her the burn, but his eyes were fixed on Hanzo, who had not stopped at his table. Cole watched as he grabbed a lantern and continued straight into the forest. “All right. Shows over, and my hands fine.”
As soon as he could tear himself away, Cole grabbed a lantern of his own and set out in the direction Hanzo had gone. When he stepped out of the clearing, he saw a rough trail that wound its way down the hill. He followed it down, his boots crunching on the fallen leaves. The path disappeared where the earth turned to soft white sand and the trees fell away to reveal a small beach. The moon was yellow and fat in the sky and cast a shimmering line across the calm waves below. Cole scanned the beach and was not surprised when he spotted Hanzo a little way down the beach. He was sitting on a driftwood log staring straight ahead. A light breeze swept through the trees and across the beach. It carried a swirl of leaves. They soared through the sky and drifted back down to earth. Some came to rest on the ocean, and the more ambitious of the lot fell into the ocean.
Cole took his hat off. The brisk breeze played with his hair and sobered him a bit. He reached Hanzo's perch and set his lantern down in the sand.
“Howdy. Mind if I join you?” asked Cole.
“If you wish,” replied Hanzo. He didn't look up. He kept his eyes fixed on the ocean, but he scooted over on the log so there’d be enough room for the both of them.
“Had enough of the festivities? Why’d you run off?”
“I did not run. I walked,” said Hanzo, bringing up a bottle of beer up to his lips, “Why did you follow me?”
“Just felt like it,” he took a swig of his own and set the bottle and set the bottle down near his feet, twisting it down into the sand so it wouldn’t fall. “Impressed you figured it out so easy. Didn’t realize you’d been payin’ so much attention to me.”
Hanzo finished the rest of the bottle in one go. Cole’s eyebrows shot up when Hanzo didn’t look to be slowing down. He shivered and wiped his mouth, “Disgusting.”
“Seem to be in a hurry there,” said Cole.
“It is natural,” said Hanzo. He grabbed the second beer bottle off the log and twisted off the top.
“What?”
“That I would pay attention to you,” said Hanzo.
“That so?”
“Cole,” Hanzo paused and wrinkled his nose.
“That’s me.”
“No. That is not it. Not the word,” said Hanzo, slurring over his words slightly. “Colleagues. That’s it. We are colleagues. I should know you well. It is my job to know you.”
“That so? So it’s just cause we’re cole-leagues?”
“Colleagues. Yes,” said Hanzo, outright refusing to acknowledge the pun or too drunk to notice.
"Thought there might be another reason,” said Cole, his words drifting off a touch wistfully.
“What? What other reason could there be?” Hanzo swiveled his head sideways with all the grace that one too many drinks had granted him. He swayed forward slightly but steadied himself by placing a hand on the log - right on top of Cole’s hand. He stared at where his hand covered Cole’s and then lifted his head to meet Cole’s gaze. “Apologies.”
“S’alright,” said Cole.
Neither of them moved their hands.
“What reason?”
“Never you mind,” said Cole “Must be imagin’ things. Looks like both of us have had too much to drink.”
Hanzo scoffed.
“Ridicu-” A hiccup cut him off. He shut his eyes shut. His fingers squeezed tighter over Cole’s hand. He held his breath a moment. He opened his eyes when the threat of another hiccup had faded.
“All right there?” Cole grinned.
“Ridiculous,” Hanzo finished. “I am fine.”
“All right, so tell me. What were you sayin’ was so wrong about how Echo did my eyes?”
"Why do you want to know?"
"Just curious. Humor me."
“It was close. But the shade was wrong,” muttered Hanzo. “And they were cold.”
“Cold? How so?”
Hanzo studied his face, puzzling over something. The concentration faded, and a small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
“Here,” he murmured, leaning forward slightly and reaching up to cup the side of Cole’s face. Cole’s eyes widened and his breath caught in his throat, and it was all he could do to keep himself from sinking into the bliss of Hanzo's touch. His hands were rough, but he held Cole’s face carefully, thumb gentling over the faint lines in his skin that spread out from the corner of his eye where time had tallied the seasons. Cole didn’t dare blink or breathe. When Hanzo spoke again, he did so haltingly, considering each word, “It is not like when we first met. They were like ice. Harsh. But now they are more breathtaking than sunset or sunrise. When you look at me, it is not so,” he paused and brought his hand away from Cole’s face to rest against his chest, “It is not so cold.”
The sound of a wave crashing heavily against the shore shattered the stillness. The chill of autumn swirled around them, stealing away the warmth of the ineffable. Hanzo blinked and the soft smile flickered and fell from his face. He shifted and pulled his hand back from where it rested over Cole’s. His expression was cold and unreadable once again, and he turned back to the ocean, leaving Cole staring at him- speechless.
Hanzo pushed himself to his feet so immediately that Cole’s heart leaped into his throat. Hanzo swayed slightly on his feet and took a few steps sideways to steady himself, knocking over his unfinished beer. It spilled bubbles of foam out across the sand. Hanzo groaned and clamped one hand over his mouth. His other hand clutched at his stomach.
“You gonna be sick?” asked Cole, knowing full-well the answer.
Hanzo shook his head and made a muffled sound that Cole recognized all too well. Then he stumbled away towards the trees. It was a race against time, and from the looks of it, time was winning.
Cole waited a moment, debating whether or not to give Hanzo his privacy.
“Ah, to hell with it," He put his hat back on, grabbed his lantern, and stumbled up the beach, muttering under his breath. “Colleagues. Fuckin' colleagues. That’s what we are?”